1. Field of the Disclosed Embodiments
This disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing communications via security and distributed access control systems that dynamically alter security protocols and security-associated mailing lists based on sender, receiver and/or message content.
2. Related Art
World events have led to ever increasing vigilance in controlling access to spaces, equipment and/or controlled communications and computing components. This increased vigilance has led to large numbers of increasingly-sophisticated clearance procedures for authorizing such access. Some of these clearance procedures are locally implemented using in-house databases for providing individual access to one or more of a particular space, a particular piece of equipment, or a particular device. Increasingly, however, there is a need to share individual entity controlled databases to grant access to non-locally controlled spaces, equipment or devices. There are certain circumstances in which a more global access needs to be provided to a particular space, piece of equipment or device component. In these circumstances, one entity may have immediate physical control over the particular space, piece of equipment or device component, but individuals from one or more related entities may seek to be granted access to the particular space piece of equipment or device component.
Earlier security paradigms required that one controlling entity exercising immediate physical control over the particular space, piece of equipment or device component would require that the other entities whose individuals desired to be granted access would provide clearance information to the one controlling entity. In certain scenarios, this paradigm has become increasingly unworkable.
There are those who believe that there is a no more pressing example of the requirement for enhanced vigilance than with respect to access to mass transportation and/or transit, particularly including access to airline transportation. As the requirements for vigilance in this regard have significantly increased in the years since the 9/11 attacks in the United States, a traveler knows that security checkpoints at airports have become increasingly sophisticated. Unfortunately, this sophistication, combined with legislated and/or administratively imposed security procedures, has often led to tremendous bottlenecks at the security checkpoints. Additionally, this is precisely the type of scenario that does not lend itself to a single overarching controlling entity, for example an individual airport authority, collecting clearance data on all individuals desiring to gain access to flights including passengers, aircrew members, and maintenance and/or security personnel.
Here, against a heightened security backdrop balanced with some desire to reduce the level of inconvenience, and the frustration that is attendant in that inconvenience for individual members of the above broad categories attempting to gain access, increasing attention has been paid to involving one or more external coordination facilities or clearinghouses in a process for pre-clearing certain individuals. Frequent travelers are able to gain pre-clearance through, for example, the CLEAR® system, which promises to allow individuals, once pre-registered, to clear security in less than five minutes via exclusive “CLEARlanes” at airport security checkpoints. These expedited “lanes” generally allowing those individuals carrying some physical token indicating their pre-registration to skip the extensive security lines and to proceed straight to the security screening checkpoints. Albeit that these procedures may expedite our arrival at security checkpoints, once there, the individuals may remain subject to standard screening procedures.
Even these screening procedures, however, tend to be cumbersome for individuals including aircrew members, as well as other airline personnel and employees. All efforts have been made to accelerate procedures for these individuals based on their routine requirement to pass through security checkpoints, and a level of inherent trust in these individuals based on their employment by an airline. These efforts may generally provide a model for central clearing house controlled dispersed access to spaces, equipment and/or device components.